September 25/19 12:22 pm - Rohan Dennis Dominates Worlds TT

Posted by Editoress on 09/25/19
 

Australia's Rohan Dennis gave an emphatic answer to questions about his form after dropping out of the Tour de France back in July, by dominating the Elite men's time trial at the Road World Championships on Wednesday to retain his world title.  Canada's lone entry, Hugo Houle, finished 27th.

Rohan Dennis

Hugo Houle

Photo Gallery

The 54 kilometre course took riders along a narrow, twisty course between hedgerows through the North Yorkshire countryside.  Short, steep climbs and descents made this course a real test of bike handling skills.

As the defending champion, Dennis was the last to start, and he was on an exceptional ride from the start.  Fastest at every time split, the Australian caught Belgium's Victor Campenaerts - who started 90 seconds in front of him - before the second split.  Campenaerts was having a strong ride - only 20 seconds down on Dennis at the first split (16.7 kilometres), but then crashed and was caught by Dennis.  He had mechanical problems later, and a very slow bike change put him out of contention.

Dennis continued to set the fastest times, and caught his three minute man, the Vuelta champion Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) in the final 15 kilometres.  Young Belgian star Remco Evenepoel continues to impress, finishing second, 1:08.93 down on Dennis, with Italy's Filippo Ganna taking the bronze medal.

Hugo said about his ride, "I'm happy with my ride today, I rode right on my targeted number [time].  Of course, I finished 27th, but that's what I could do today, that's my place.  The course was pretty technical, once we got to the first time check [16 kilometres].  We had to push quite hard to keep a high speed for about 20k in the middle; I think I managed it well with what I had in my legs, so I'm happy."

Hugo also talked about the road race, where the Canadian team will work for Mike Woods.  "We have a good team here and we are ready for Sunday.  Mike [Woods] showed last year that he can compete with the best, so we will support him the best that we can.  We will chaperone him to make sure he is in the best place in the field.  We expect rain, so it will make the race really hard and it will be very important to be well positioned and protect Mike and keep him near the front."

Results

Dygart Dominates Elite Women's TT, Canuel 12th

Road Worlds: U23 Men ITT results
Road Worlds Day 2 - Junior Women & Men ITTs

Road Worlds: Junior Women ITT results

Road Worlds: Junior Men ITT results